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MELBOURNE, Australia — Five-time champion Serena Williams has won more matches at the Australian Open than any other woman, notching career win No. 61 on Friday as she advanced to the fourth round with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Daniela Hantuchova on another scorching day at Melbourne Park.

Williams converted her fourth match point on No. 31-seeded Hantuchova's serve. It was Williams' 24th consecutive win on the tour back to August, and improved her career record to 61-8 at the Australian Open.

She equaled Margaret Court's Australian Open mark of 60 wins with her second-round victory, and now has matched Lindsay Davenport's record of 69 main-draw matches here in the Open era.

Maria Sharapova toiled in 109-degree temperatures for more than 3½ hours on Rod Laver Arena and could count herself among the unlucky early starters Thursday. The temperature was 102 F when Sharapova's match against No. 44-ranked Karin Knapp started just after 11 a.m.

It increased by the time she finished off a 6-3, 4-6, 10-8 win on her fourth match point, 50 minutes after her first. It was the longest women's match so far in the tournament.

After organizers finally decided to suspend matches due to extreme temperatures in a heat wave gripping southeastern Australia, late lighting and rain caused further delays on day four.

Caroline Wozniacki highlighted the unpredictable Melbourne weather, describing the conditions as "pleasant" when she played on Rod Laver Arena immediately after Sharapova. And comparatively, it was. Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer also enjoyed the milder temperatures when they played evening matches indoors.

The roof at Rod Laver Arena re-opened when weather conditions improved, and Wimbledon champion Andy Murray won the last 23 points in the featured night match to come back from 5-1 down in the third set and beat French qualifier Vincent Millot 6-2, 6-2, 7-5.

"It was 6-5 when I went to serve for it, and someone shouted out, 'You won 19 in a row'," Murray said. "I would say that's probably the most I'd ever won in my career by far. I don't really know how I did it."

In the biggest upset so far at the tournament, No. 5-seeded Juan Martin del Potro ended a long day at Melbourne Park by losing his second-round match 4-6, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4, 7-5 to Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut.

The 3-hour, 53-minute match finished at 1:20 a.m. Friday, more than 14 hours after play began on day four.

Earlier, organizers invoked their 'Extreme Heat Policy' and the roofs on the two main arenas were closed in the afternoon. Matches on outside courts, meanwhile, were suspended for more than four hours until temperatures fell.

Problems with the weather didn't end there — thunderstorms, lightning and rain showers hit during the early evening, forcing another suspension of play for matches on the outer courts.

Her main rival on the bottom half of the draw had to endure the harshest conditions of the day.

The temperature was 39 C (102 F) when Sharapova's match against No. 44-ranked Karin Knapp started just after 11 a.m. local time. It increased to almost 43 C by the time she finished off a 6-3, 4-6, 10-8 win on her fourth match point, 50 minutes after her first. It was the longest women's match so far in the tournament.

"I wanted this match," Sharapova said. "I didn't play my best tennis; I didn't do many things well ... (but) I got through it, and sometimes that's what's important."

At the height of the heat, Sharapova, dripping in sweat, wasted three match points on serve in the 10th game of the third set, and then had to save break points and serve to stay in the match.

Federer played on the second show court at Melbourne Park for the first time in a decade, and raced to a 6-2, 6-1, 7-6 ( 4) win over Blaz Kavcic under the roof at Hisense Arena.

Federer said he didn't mind the switch — he'd played 63 consecutive matches on Rod Laver since 2004.

"It was nice ... it's not really different to Rod Laver Arena really," Federer said. "Dimensions feel the same, the crowds were really nice, great atmosphere. I was happy playing there."

He was playing at the same time as Nadal for the first time in years at Melbourne Park. Nadal had no trouble in a 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 win over Australian wild-card entry Thanasi Kokkinakis under the roof on Rod Laver Arena.

"Very happy to see the roof out there today," Nadal said.

No. 16 Kei Nishikori had a 6-1, 6-1, 7-6 (3) win over Dusan Lajovic. He will next play American Donald Young, who beat No. 24 Andreas Seppi 6-4, 2-6, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 in one of the matches suspended for nearly four hours due to the heat.

Organizers announced that Canadian Vasek Pospisil withdrew with a back injury from his scheduled third-round match Friday against No. 8 Stanislas Wawrinka.

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